5/10
Cons
- Ran like absolute garbage, it's a AAA title with the budget and team to pull off something that at least performs decently, but instead it ran like Turning Point: Fall of Liberty. I've gone through this whole generation without a game crashing on me (except for once in Fallout 3) and then Crysis 2 crashes on me twice within the first few hours. Crytek needs to hire some console developers and get them working on optimization, a big linear title like Crysis 2 should run as smooth as butter. If Killzone 3, Uncharted 2, Bulletstorm and Dead Space 2 can look as good as they do and still play without a hitch, then I expect the same from Crysis 2.
List of tech issues:
Buggy.
Serious pop in issues.
Frame-rate dropped drastically during intense moments.
Enemies would constantly get stuck in the geometry.
I had the game crash on me twice, both of them caused me to turn off my 360 and restart the mission.
- Upgrade system was a little confusing.
- Enemies became repetitive after a while and the throwing mechanic could use some work.
- Probably the dumbest AI in a big shooter, coming off Killzone 3 and Halo: Reach made it look much worse.
- Check pointing was really bad, I'd have sections where the checkpoints were 30 minutes apart (bridge level).
Pros
- Gameplay was tight and fun, makes you feel like a powerhouse.
- Environments were open and easy to manoeuvre through.
- The plot wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
- Despite it's long list of technical issues, it looked great at times, the indoor environments were a treat and the particle effects were some of the best that I've ever seen.
Overall I enjoyed Crysis 2 during some parts and the gameplay was it's driving factor, but it had so many issues that I couldn't overlook and I was disappointed that I was playing a gem covered in shit. The best example I could give is that Crysis 2 felt like Bayonetta on the PS3 without a patch, the gameplay was fantastic and it had all these other cool moments, but it was constantly interrupted by poor console optimization.
Bet with Conegamer and AussieGecko that the PS3 will have more exclusives in 2011 than the Wii or 360... or something.